Outlook.com storage almost full despite having a Microsoft 365 subscrioption

Georges Haddad 0 Reputation points
2026-10-16T02:21:34.4533333+00:00

Received an Outlook.com notification that the 5 GB storage is 82% full. I have a Microsoft 365 account with 1 TB of storage.

Why isn't Outlook.com not using my Microsoft 365 account and storage?

Microsoft 365 and Office | Subscription, account, billing | For home | Other
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  1. GsN5034 - IA 78,875 Reputation points Independent Advisor
    2026-10-16T03:37:29.7933333+00:00

    Hello,

    First, verify that the notification was sent by the official Microsoft support team.

    Do not click any links in the email. Instead, open the link below directly and sign in to your Microsoft account to verify whether your storage limit has actually been exceeded.

    https://outlook.live.com/mail/0/options/accounts-category/storage

    • Open the link in a private window.
    • Expand the Microsoft Storage and Email storage section.
    • See if the 1 TB OneDrive storage and 100GB Outlook email storage are reflected.

    If the storage is not reflected and it says that you've exceeded the storage limit,

    Sign in to the Services & Subscriptions page with your Microsoft account, then check whether your subscription is active and whether there are any billing issues.

    https://account.microsoft.com/services

    This will confirm whether there are any payment issues or whether your Microsoft 365 subscription is linked to a different Microsoft account.

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  2. AI answer

    2026-10-16T02:21:49.3266667+00:00

    Outlook.com is using two different storage limits:

    • Email storage: free Outlook.com accounts get 15 GB of mailbox storage.
    • Microsoft cloud storage: free accounts get 5 GB, shared across OneDrive files and photos, Outlook.com attachments, and Microsoft 365 apps.

    The 5 GB warning is about Microsoft cloud storage, not the full Outlook mailbox. Outlook.com attachments count against that shared cloud storage, so Outlook.com can warn about 5 GB usage even when a Microsoft 365 subscription exists.

    With a Microsoft 365 subscription:

    • Outlook.com mailbox storage can increase to 100 GB.
    • OneDrive storage is larger, but consumer mailboxes are still capped at 100 GB.

    If the subscription was purchased recently, the storage increase can take time to appear. If the account is locked, it can take up to two hours after purchasing additional storage for the new quota to show. Similar support guidance also notes updates can take 24 to 48 hours across services.

    To check what Outlook.com is actually using:

    1. Open Outlook.com.
    2. Go to Settings > Account > Storage.
    3. Review both the mailbox folder breakdown and the storage sections.
    4. Permanently delete unneeded mail, especially messages with large attachments.
    5. Empty Deleted Items, because it still counts against the mailbox quota until emptied or auto-deleted after 30 days.

    If the subscription is active but the quota still shows 5 GB after waiting for the update window, check the Microsoft storage page and refresh the storage status. If it still does not update after four hours, contact support.

    References:

    AI-generated content may be incorrect. Read our transparency notes for more information.

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